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A busy day in the world of the Atlanta Braves culminated with the team getting rocked on the field Monday night by the Miami Marlins. Despite the Marlins having scored three runs total across the entire three-game series in Detroit, they eclipsed that mark in just five innings in Atlanta.

The offense did show signs of life as they plated another four runs but folks, it’s very difficult to win any type of ballgame when you give up ten runs. Eury Pérez also should probably feel fortunate that he got out of there with just three runs allowed as the Braves did have their chances to open it up against him. Instead, Grant Holmes and the rest of Atlanta’s pitching staff took the brunt of the punishment in this contest and the Braves ended up being doomed to defeat in this one and their series-winning streak is now in jeopardy.

Braves News

Dylan Dodd is now with the Gwinnett Stripers and Rolddy Muñoz took his place as a result. We were hoping that things would be better for Muñoz this go-around. The first pitch he threw got hit out. Blah.

Sean Murphy was going to do his rehab stint in Gwinnett. Plans changed due to personal circumstances on his part and now he’ll be starting his rehab assignment Tuesday night with the Rome Emperors.

Michael Harris II returned to the lineup following the birth of Michael Harris III. As a result, Luke Williams was designated for assignment. We’ll see if he ends up sticking around with the Braves organization.

Grant McAuley gave us all an inside look into the design process of the new City Connect uniforms. He spoke with Braves Creative Director Insung Kim and got all the details behind the design.

Following his actions last week during the donnybrook between the Braves and the Angels, manager Walt Weiss has developed a tough reputation. Bob Nightengale of USA Today went into detail about how unsurprising that was for the people who are around him every day.

MLB News

Aaron Judge and Mike Trout had a kaiju battle in the Bronx on Monday night. The Yankees may have won 11-10 but folks, is Trout finally back?

Elsewhere in the AL East, the Orioles made a furious comeback from down six runs to stun the Diamondbacks in dramatic fashion.

The Guardians bounced back in a win over the Cardinals but folks, Jordan Walker is on a tear.

Will Leitch of MLB.com ran down a list of candidates who could potentially be in line to win their first career MVP this season. Do you agree with what you see on this list?

From The Feed

Walt Weiss is a very, very popular guy in the Braves’ clubhouse right now.

Miracle of all miracles, the 37-year-old Chris Sale just keeps getting it done.

Are we looking at the best Braves bench for a considerable amount of time? People are asking!

The DH spot is looking pretty nice as well.

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There’s a fascinating starting pitching matchup in Chavez Ravine on Tuesday as Nolan McLean and the New York Mets face Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

See why I’m backing the underdog and the Under with my Mets vs. Dodgers predictions and MLB picks for Tuesday, April 14.

Who will win Mets vs Dodgers today: Mets (+178)

A team with Nolan McLean as their starting pitcher shouldn’t be priced at +186. 

The 24-year-old has a 2.23 ERA across 11 starts in the Big Leagues and has flashed elite stuff this season, ranking above the 90th percentile in xERA, xBA, and average exit velocity. 

The New York Mets are off to a disappointing start at the dish, but there’s still plenty of talent up and down the lineup. 

They could reasonably plate several runs against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who has yet to ramp up to “elite mode” with a pedestrian 3.62 xERA and 20.9% K rate in three starts.

COVERS INTEL: The Mets have below-average surface-level numbers at the plate (.230 AVG, .341 SLG), but underlying metrics indicate that’s somewhat due to bad luck. Their xBA is 16 points higher (.246), and their xSLG is 51 points higher, so better days are ahead.

Mets vs Dodgers Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (-107)

The league experienced a rash of high-scoring games on Monday, when nine of the 10 games went Over the total. The lone Under? The series opener between the Mets and Dodgers, a 4-0 victory for L.A. 

There was favorable hitting weather in just about every other game, but L.A. was an exception then, and it is again on Tuesday with temps in the high 50s to low 60s. 

In a game with two tremendous starting pitchers, I’d rather have the Under. Both bullpens have SIERAs under 3.80 and are well rested after combining for just four innings in the opener.

Mets vs Dodgers odds

• Moneyline: Mets XX | Dodgers XX
• Run line: Mets XX | Dodgers XX
• Over/Under: Over XXX | Under XXX

Mets vs Dodgers trend

The Mets have cashed the moneyline in three of their last five road games for a 15% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Mets vs. Dodgers.

How to watch Mets vs Dodgers and game info

Mets vs Dodgers latest injuries

Mets vs Dodgers weather

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A double-dose of Los Angeles vs. New York plays highlight our MLB best bets for Tuesday's slate, dipping into both the AL and NL versions of those matchups.

In addition to those MLB picks, we also have more best bets from the Covers staff — with all prices courtesy of Polymarket, which allows baseball fans all across the country to participate in the MLB action.

MLB expert picks for today

Pick	Odds
Josh Inglis: LAA ML	+163
Jon Metler: NYM ML	+186
Joe Osborne: TEX/A's u8.5	+100

Prices courtesy of Polymarket.

Josh Inglis' expert pick: Angels moneyline

Price: 38¢ (+163) at Polymarket

When I’m backing a big dog, I’ll happily take an offense like the Los Angeles Angels, which has been a Top-10 unit over the last week and is coming off a 10-run outing yesterday. They got to the Yankees bullpen early, tagging it for six runs and two home runs, which is key to their chances again today. Ryan Weathers is coming off a career-high 101 pitches in his last start, after relatively light workloads throughout his six MLB seasons, which adds some uncertainty to his leash. THE BAT projects a fair price closer to +125 for the Halos, making +163 a strong value spot.

Jon Metler's expert pick: Mets moneyline

Price: 35¢ (+186) at Polymarket

Nolan McLean vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto at Dodger Stadium — this is the game of the night, and I’m backing the Mets in a matchup that could easily be an NLCS preview. The Mets are trading at 35% on Polymarket, but I make them closer to 44%, which is why I’m hitting the button on this price. The Dodgers lineup — featuring LHBs Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Kyle Tucker, and Max Muncy — typically benefits from facing right-handed pitching... unless it’s a high-end arm. McLean fits that description, with elite stuff and a high spin rate. He can bury back-foot sliders to left-handed power bats and mix in his curveball to keep them off balance, forcing weaker contact and limiting their power.

Joe Osborne's expert pick: Rangers/A's Under 8.5

Price: 50¢ (+100) at Polymarket

Two left-handed starters are set to take the mound, matching up perfectly against two of the worst offenses against lefties this season, with the teams ranking 26th and 27th in OPS vs southpaws. MacKenzie Gore has been sharp with a 2.45 ERA, and is backed by a bullpen that ranks second in ERA, while Jeffrey Springs has posted a 0.69 ERA and 0.46 WHIP, including a one-hit gem at Yankee Stadium in his last outing. The Athletics are always a candidate for rock-bottom run production, already logging six games this season with one run or fewer.

More MLB best bets for today

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The San Diego Padres bullpen was expected to be the strength of the team coming into the 2026 season, the first season under new manager and former Padres reliever Craig Stammen. The San Diego bullpen has been good, but it has not been the shutdown game-determining juggernaut the Friar Faithful expected. In fact, one of those power arms at the back of the ‘pen, Jeremiah Estrada, landed on the IL following a slow start to the year. Estrada had some difficult outings where he did not look like the same dominant arm that struck out 13 batters in a row, but the greater concern was the drop in his velocity. Another electric arm in the San Diego bullpen, Adrian Morejon, has also struggled to start the season. Stammen said it himself in a recent postgame press conference, Morejon is not getting hit hard, but broken bat singles and flares to the outfield somehow keep finding grass.

The performances of Estrada and Morejon have really been the only negatives from the bullpen so far. Yuki Matsui has yet to return to the big-league roster, but Jason Adam was reinstated last week and looks like he never suffered a season-ending injury in 2025. David Morgan, Kyle Hart, Wandy Peralta, Ron Marinaccio and Bradgley Rodriguez have all had moments this season where fans could see what the potential the prognosticators saw before the season began when they were praising the Padres’ bullpen.

Of course, the crown jewel of the San Diego bullpen to this point in the season is closer Mason Miller. He has been talked about as the single most dominant player at any position in the MLB. That is high praise for one of the biggest points of contention from the 2025 season. Was it a mistake by general manager A.J. Preller to trade top-prospect Leodalis DeVries for Miller and JP Sears? Even without Sears, those in favor of the trade could claim a victory.

One thing is for sure, as the season progresses and players like Estrada, Morejon and eventually Matsui return to the bullpen, decisions for Stammen and Preller will become increasingly difficult. The benefit of those decisions should be the elite group that was so highly touted in the offseason.

Padres News:

• Fernando Tatis Jr. played back-to-back games at second base to allow Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth to get days off. The result was an improved performance at the plate and a double play throw that intended to put a hole in the glove of first baseman Gavin Sheets. No matter the reason for the (temporary) move the Platinum Glove winning right fielder looked happy to be back on the dirt.

• Tatis Jr. may not get many more chances to play second base if Sung-Mun Song continues his success in his rehab appearances with Triple-A El Paso. The infielder was 2-for-5 in the most recent action for the Chihuahuas.

Baseball News:

• The New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels faced off against each other on Monday, but the real story was Aaron Judge versus Mike Trout. With the two combining for four home runs, they did not disappoint.

• Jordan Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals cannot stop hitting home runs – and the Cardinals do not want him to.

• Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes finally got some run support in one of his outings as the Pirates scored 10 runs in a single frame against the Washington Nationals.

• Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs against his former club and helped the Philadelphia Phillies start their series against the Chicago Cubs with a win.

• Boston Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet got beat up by the Minnesota Twins and allowed 11 runs in 1.2 innings. Byron Buxton became the all-time home runs leader at Target Field as a result.

• Nolan Arenado and Ketel Marte each hit two home runs to help the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Baltimore Orioles, but it was Pete Alonso who helped Baltimore walk away with a win.

• Josh Naylor, who signed a free-agent deal with the Seattle Mariners in the offseason, had a breakout game at the plate with two home runs.

The Detroit Tigers enjoyed some home cooking this weekend, sweeping the Miami Marlins in three games to snap a five-game winning streak. Now, they open up the second half of the homestand with their American League Central rivals, the Kansas City Royals, coming into town.

The Royals are currently tied with the Tigers in the middle of the ALC pack, while the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians sit atop the division with 10-7 records. The Chicago White Sox take up the rear with a 6-10 mark heading into the series.

To kick things off, Detroit has lefty-hander Framber Valdez taking the mound on Tuesday night, while fellow southpaw Cole Ragans toes the rubber for the visitors. Here’s a quick look at how they match up.

Detroit Tigers (7-9) vs. Kansas City Royals (7-9)

Time (ET): 6:40 p.m. ET
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site:Royals Review
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 17: LHP Framber Valdez (1-1, 4.76 ERA) vs. LHP Cole Ragans (0-3, 5.91 ERA)

VALDEZ

RAGANS

Last night was blah. We haven’t seen a “total failure of run prevention” from this team yet, but that’s what it was nearly was last night: two homers, some poor defensive positioning that helped lead to a .452 Marlins BABIP, counterbalanced “only” by a 9/3 K/BB ratio where the strikeouts were mostly accrued when the game was getting progressively out of reach. The Braves’ wOBA-against was .425, their highest mark of the season so far, and the only time it’s gotten above .345. The xwOBA-against was .343 (third-highest of the season). Basically, the Braves have both pitched well this season and been fortunate to not have teams unload a massive wOBA-xwOBA gap on them, but the .081 gap for the Marlins last night was the biggest in a game against the Braves this season, more than double the prior high to date of .034. The Marlins came into this game with the league’s biggest positive wOBA-xwOBA gap, and it only got (notably) larger after last night.

While the Braves haven’t had to lean on their “main” relievers very much — Robert Suarez and Raisel Iglesias haven’t pitched in about a week — their backend is direly in need of reshuffle due to usage, once again. Dylan Dodd threw three innings in lieu of Martin Perez’ roster spot, but was promptly shuffled back down. Rolddy Munoz was a sacrificial lamb-ish guy last night, and Jose Suarez also pitched. My question is twofold: whether the Braves make another shuffle ahead of tonight’s game, and if so, whether it’s just Munoz, or perhaps whether Suarez goes too.

The Yankees nearly lost a prime candidate for dumbest game of the year on Monday, but they managed to flip the script and end up on the winning end thanks to a game-tying Trent Grisham two-run shot in the ninth (his second bomb of the night) and a wild pitch that brought José Caballero home to walk it off. Aaron Judge played his part, launching two home runs of his own, and Caballero completed their offensive surge with a homer to go with his timely baserunning. Their win snaps a five-game losing streak, and gives them their first chance in nearly a week to gain some ground on their rivals. Only a handful of other teams were playing on Monday, but they got some solid results nonetheless.

Minnesota Twins (10-7) 13, Boston Red Sox (6-10) 6

Garrett Crochet was on many people’s short lists for Cy Young winner entering this season, but he’s going to have an uphill battle to make it into those conversations after the slow start he’s gotten off to, and in particular after the night he had on Monday. He put up a uniquely-terrible line, giving up 11 runs (10 earned) in just 1.2 innings, getting battered around for nine hits and three walks without picking up a single strikeout.

Things got off to an immediately bad start for the Sox ace, as he recorded the first out on a flyout and then proceeded to give up back-to-back doubles and a single to go down 2-0. Crochet got the second out on another fly ball, but a walk and hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Brooks Lee, who singled home two more runs and made it 4-0 after one.

If the first inning was bad, the second was an outright disaster. The first six batters all reached, culminating in Victor Caratini’s three-run blast to make it 10-0. Crochet miraculously recorded back-to-back outs to nearly escape the inning, but Ryan Kreidler ambushed him with another homer to push the score to 11-0 and chased him from the game at long last.

With a tremendous lead in hand, all the Twins needed was competent pitching to get them through the game, and they got that. Bailey Ober coasted through the first two innings, got into trouble in the third and allowed three runs on an RBI double and two-run homer, and then went back to coasting for a couple more innings. The sixth started off rocky, as the first three batters all singled to bring home a run, but a double-play ball and a strikeout got him to the end of his outing without further incident. Even with Eric Orze entering and coughing up two more runs in the seventh, the Twins were never in danger of blowing their massive advantage.

Seattle Mariners (8-9) 6, Houston Astros (6-11) 2

The Mariners may not have gotten off to the strongest start entering this series, but they did themselves a huge favor and got a leg up on their rivals by sweeping a four-game set. This time around they jumped on Mike Burrows from the get-go, as Josh Naylor launched his first home run of the year and made it a three-run shot for good measure. Naylor got to him again in the third inning, this time hitting a two-run homer to put the M’s up 5-0, and in the fifth Luke Raley poked an RBI single through to plate their sixth and final run against Burrows.

The Astros responded in the top half of the fifth, hitting three straight singles to get on the scoreboard. Nick Allen put a ball in play to score the second run of the inning, but it came via a double-play ball that halted the rally — sure enough, Jose Altuve grounded out to end it in the next at-bat. Houston wouldn’t get another batter past second base the rest of the way, stranding two in the eighth and one in the ninth as Seattle capped off the sweep. They’ve now won four in a row after having lost their previous five, something that New York would surely like to emulate. Meanwhile, Houston’s lost eight in a row as injuries have wrecked their pitching staff.

Other Games

Cleveland Guardians (10-7) 9, St. Louis Cardinals (8-8) 3: Both teams got on the board with a run in the first inning, but Cleveland broke out with a three-run fourth inning fueled by a pair of walks to lead off the frame. A pair of singles brought them both home, and a sacrifice fly wrapped up the inning and gave the Guardians their eventual winning run. They still tacked on plenty of insurance, getting a two-run blast from Brayan Rocchio in the sixth and a trio of runs in the eighth via singles from Rocchio and Steven Kwan. St. Louis scratched across a couple runs to shorten the gap, but they never got close to getting back in it.

Good morning.

Shawn McFarland writes that Brandon Nimmo’s hot April and Danny Jansen being unleashed to utilize ABS challenges are among the things we’ve recently learned about the Texas Rangers.

Evan Grant writes that this year’s anticipated updated hitting approach was on display for the Rangers in their win over the Athletics on Monday night.

Kennedi Landry writes that Nathan Eovaldi was back at his best in the victory that snapped a winning streak for the Not-Oaklands.

Grant ponders if Roki Sasaki was tipping his pitches in his start against the Rangers on Sunday and if an enhanced ability to read pitchers will be in Texas’ bag of tricks this season.

Grant has yet another update on Wyatt Langford, who could return to the lineup as early as tonight as the Rangers avoided putting him on the IL.

And, Nimmo’s successful beginnings with Texas has been noticed by Matt Snyder in the latest CBS Sports power rankings.

Have a nice day!

What more can be said about a game where your starting pitcher has the worst start of his career and the bullpen made things worse?

The reasonable answer to that question is, “Not much,” but you come here for a game recap and so, you will get one for the Cubs’ terrible, horrible, no good, very bad 13-7 loss to the Phillies Monday night in Philadelphia.

You kind of knew things weren’t going the Cubs’ way when Kyle Schwarber homered in the first inning. Another Phillies run crossed the plate in the second, and then Schwarber homered again in the third, this time with Trea Turner on base.

The Cubs actually made the game sort of close in the fourth. Carson Kelly led off with a single and Dansby Swanson followed that with a home run [VIDEO].

That was Swanson’s second homer in as many days and it does appear he’s coming out of his season-starting slump. Now it’s 4-2 and, well, teams have come back from two-run deficits in the fourth inning.

Not this time. The Phillies scored five times in the fifth off Assad, this time without a home run involved, before Craig Counsell had mercy and replaced him with Jacob Webb. Webb actually got out of the fifth with no further runs scoring.

Just in case you didn’t have enough bad news about Assad, here’s more from BCB’s JohnW53:

Javier Assad is the first Cubs pitcher to allow at least nine runs in a game since reliever Ryan Pressly’s nine-run, no-out meltdown at home against the Giants on May 6 of last year. The previous starter who did that was Hayden Wesneski, who gave up 11 runs in 4.0 innings at St. Louis on July 13, 2024. Shōta Imanaga had given up 10 in 3.0 at home against the Mets on June 21, 2024. Those were the only three before Monday’s game since June 3, 2022, when Marcus Stroman gave up 10 in 4.0 at home against the Cardinals.

Just-recalled Charlie Barnes entered the game in the sixth. I’ll spare you the details of the carnage, but when the inning was over the Phillies had three more runs and a 12-2 lead, and they plated another one off Barnes in the seventh.

The game was entering “position player pitcher” territory at that point, but the Cubs decided to get the bats out in the eighth. Ian Happ led off with a double and scored on this single by Moisés Ballesteros [VIDEO].

Swanson then walked and Miguel Amaya was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with nobody out. Pete Crow-Armstrong singled, with two runs scoring, one on an error [VIDEO].

Matt Shaw then reached on an error, with Amaya scoring [VIDEO].

Two outs later, Seiya Suzuki singled in PCA [VIDEO].

Well. Now it’s 13-7 and that forced the Phillies to call on one of their leverage relievers, Orion Kerkering. Ian Happ was the next batter. If, somehow, Happ could have gone deep, the game would actually have become close but… Happ looked at three pitches from Kerkering and struck out.

And that was basically it. Besides the pitching issues in this game, the Cubs once again had tons of baserunners who were stranded. They left 10 runners on base and went 4-for-16 with RISP. Not that this excuses the pitching, but now the Cubs have gone 7-for-51 (.137) with RISP over their last four games and left 47 runners on base, an average of 12 LOB per game. And that includes Kelly’s game-winning single on Sunday. Yikes.

So there are multiple issues that need to be addressed, and soon. Barnes wound up throwing the final three innings, so all the Cubs’ leverage relievers got the night off (save Webb, who threw only eight pitches). That’s about the only positive I can take out of this one.

The Cubs will look to even up the series Tuesday evening in Philadelphia. The original schedule had Colin Rea listed as Tuesday’s starter, but after Monday’s game the Cubs announced that Riley Martin would start, presumably as an opener, with Rea following. Aaron Nola will start for the Phillies. Game time is again 5:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

For the most part, the Phillies bullpen has been a strength so far this season. There’s been some bad luck involved, but overall, the unit looks strong. One major exception however is José Alvarado. 

Following Sunday’s ineffective performance, Alvarado has now allowed 8 runs, 7 earned, in 5 innings pitched on 9 hits with 7 strikeouts to 3 walks. He too has run into some bad luck, as he’s sporting a whopping .563 BABIP, an impressive level of early batted ball misfortune. But, that doesn’t entirely erase the fact that Alvarado just hasn’t looked good so far. 

Alvarado’s velocity has been good, clocking in right around his career average at an average of 98 MPH. But he’s struggled to throw strikes, as only 40% of his pitches have been inside the zone. That is a far drop off from his abbreviated 2025 (50.3%) or even his 2024 (47.6%). In fact, that 40% zone rate is well below Alvarado’s already low 47.5% rate for his career. Of course, he’s only made eight appearances on the young 2026 season, but it is something to monitor. 

Curiously, despite the lack of pitches in the zone, Alvarado is actually getting a healthy dose of swings and misses. His 30.2% whiff rate is in line with his career average of 31.3% and is way up from 2025 where his swing and miss rate was a career low 24.3%. 

It is only eight appearances, so the book is far from written on Alvarado’s 2026, but the poor performance is a trend that dates back to his return from suspension last season. In 16 total appearances since being reinstated on August 19th, Alvarado has a 9.82 ERA in 11 innings pitched with 14 strikeouts to 6 walks. Opponents are hitting .340 with a .968 OPS against him over that span. The numbers are even worse in the eight appearances after Alvarado returned from the injured list on September 29th, with a 12.60 ERA and an opposing hitters batting line of .391/.481/.391

It’s still early in 2026, so there’s plenty of time for Alvarado to turn it around. But this is a trend of subpar performance that dates back to last season. The Phillies have two other effective lefties in the bullpen with Tanner Banks and the surprising Tim Mayza, but neither of them posses the raw stuff and strikeout ability that Alvarado has. The team needs him to be able to be an effective setup man and to be the top lefty reliever behind righties Jhoan Duran and Brad Keller. So, do the Phillies have a José Alvarado problem?